doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The Dickinson Report

Or Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans .................. "wait until you see the whites of their eyes".

I recently had a conversation with a friend who, while in school at UGA in Athens, hunted quail around the countryside there. He once had the opportunity to go with a local legend, Mr. Willie. They hunted 2-3 hours that morning, then went by a country store for a hot coffee and late breakfast. He commented that Mr. Willie was far and away the finest shot on quail he had ever seen, and asked how it was that he seemed to almost never miss. He said Mr. Willie got quiet and looked long at the old woodburning stove before answering, then said, "I don't really know, never thought about it. All I know is that when I see an eye, I pull the trigger". They call that "hard focus" now, but it's nothing new.


SRH

Stan I learned how hard going away birds are to kill when shooting geese. A bird incoming or even side shot was a fairly simple shot to achieve a clean kill. But if the bird was quartering away or worse a straight away shot they became almost bullet proof. Part is the heavier feathers you have to penetrate, part is the armor plate of bone that protects the back and the fact that all the vitals are on the far end of the bird. The brain and neck are behind the bird. You could bring down a goose easier by breaking its wing than getting a fatal hit. But my golden hated wounded geese and would grow at me when I shot at them. I thought she was growing at the geese but suspect her critisim was for me. Birds are birds so what's true for one is true for another just scaled to size.

Stan, the best turkey hunter I know won't shoot a gobbler unless he sees a well defined eyeball. Gil

So true, Jon. I found that out decades ago, and it holds true on every bird I've ever hunted. IMO, quail seem to be one of the easier birds to put down going away. Don't know why. Doves are not, they're unexplainably tough to kill dead going way. Range is everything. Many people shoot at doves too far, going away.

SRH

Pheasants can seem almost armor plated when hit going away. There's a lot of bone and feathers to penetrate to reach anything vital if you don't hit the head. There's also a gizzard in the way. I agree that quail aren't that hard to kill going away, although I think most people who've hunted both bobs and scalies would say that the latter seem to take more killing. Not sure why. Maybe the average distance at which they're shot is longer.